saving costs

Council Planning Approvals and building certifiers Building Approvals normally have lots of conditions and different requirements that you need to pay attention too. There is, however, one item you should pay particular attention to when determining the budget of a development – the Infrastructure Charges Notice.

We have all, at some time, been lucky enough to stay a night at the dreaded “Highway Motel” where the constant noise from the passing cars and trucks has left you about 39 shy of the required 40 winks. So why is this lucky?

Let’s look at a hypothetical situation for a minute: Six months ago you purchased a carport kit to set up in your driveway and increase the market value of your house — a little weekend DIY. The plan was a success and the house has now sold. However before the contract could be finalised, you have been slapped with an Unlawful Building Work Notice, effectively cancelling the sale. Why has this happened and what should you do?

You are just days away from turning the dirt on your block of land, ready to start building your dream home, then your building certifier contacts you with the bad news – “there is a sewer line on your lot and your building is too close”. This is one of the most common problems in the building industry, and it can be a costly and time-consuming issue to fix.

Building where to start? Any good builder will tell you that, to have a successful building project, you have to be able to see the project completed before you start. If you haven’t work through the details of the project in your mind and solved and documented all the problems first, you are heading for some unexpected surprises as well as costs.

Everyone is looking for building cost savings no matter how large or small the building project.

We all love surprises – except when it comes to spending money, and even less when it is your own. In the development industry hidden costs are often unavoidable, however, the surprise doesn’t have to be.